Jerome Wetzel is the Chief Television Critic for Seat42F and a regular contributing reviewer on Blogcritics. He also appears on The Good, The Bad, and the Geeky podcast and Let's Talk TV With Barbara Barnett.

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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Christmas Episodes

With Christmas upon us, everyone's thoughts turn towards the holiday.
It's hard even for those not celebrating Christmas to be immune to the
season, with stores bustling, selling huge amounts of merchandise, and
decked out with various festive decorations.

This extends to our favorite television programs, with a great many
of them, especially on the broadcast networks, going for a
Christmas-themed episode. Hollywood may be full of Jews, but even (some)
Jewish characters put up a tree these days. Or maybe not just these
days, since the very Jewish Irving Berlin wrote the classic song "White
Christmas."

There are a lot of ways to do a Christmas episode, though some have
become cliche. Here are some of the most obvious scenarios, and if
you're writing for a television show, please try not to do them any
more. Unless you have a new, fresh twist on an old idea. Which,
admittedly, maybe be hard to judge when writing it.

Movie Tributes
These come in quite a few
different forms. Some are parodies, others copy the film's story, and
some barely touch on more than a couple of themes. Often, episode titles
make the connection obvious.

The most commonly used one, of course, is It's a Wonderful Life,
in which a character falls into a coma or has a dream, and imagines
what life would be like were a different choice made, or circumstances
varied. Glee did it this year, albeit for only one act. But many, many other series have done it in the past.

It's a nice idea, getting to see familiar characters in a different
light, acting ways they normally would not. And yet, it has been done to
death. Some shows have tried moving this bit away from Christmas, but
is still obvious what is being done. Unless there is a good reason,
plot-wise, to show this, or one hundred percent effort is put into
making it the best it can be for pretty much the entire length of
the installment enough is enough.

A close second is A Christmas Carol, in which a grumpy puss
decides to be nice. Everyone hates a Scrooge, but they love a tale of
redemption. The change won't last, of course, so it's merely comfort
food, rather than serious development. The story is classic for a
reason, and these episodes do resonate with us. But they've been done.
Move on.

Magic Endings
How many times have you been
watching a holiday episode when the plot takes the characters to a dire
place? Maybe their gifts have been stolen, maybe someone is missing, or
maybe there's just a grinch in their midst who is ruining everyone
else's good time. Whatever the setup, things are bad, and the characters
cannot do anything to help themselves or others.

And then Santa Claus, or a man who looks very much like our
stereotypical portrait of the jolly old elf, swoops in and saves the
day. There is a happy ending, but not one that really makes sense to the
story, or even has been hinted at all prior til that moment. He'll
bring the presents or warm a heart, and basically make everything
better. It's the Christmas version of dues-ex-machina.

This trope sucks because it's weak storytelling. Can our favorite
characters not solve things themselves? Do they really need some
supernatural being to fix their problems for them? If it's a
sci-fi/fantasy genre series, and people with abnormal powers already
exist in the universe, it almost sort of works. But most of the time,
Santa pops up in sitcoms, not among the superheroes.

Yes, I admit, being grouchy about Santa is a humbug thing to be. It
feels cruel to pick on this device too much. However, I know there are
plenty of television writers out there who can come up with something
original and brilliant, so the dissatisfaction is merely disappointment
at an easy out, rather than a condemnation of the season.

Family Gatherings
For some reason, families on
television are always dysfunctional. Although many viewers enjoy warm
exchanges with beloved relations, that premise doesn't make for
interesting television, so drama is tossed into the mix, arguments
ensue and lead to huge, blown-up exchanges, until a central character
finds a way to bring everyone back together for a peaceful meal in the
end. Unless it's funnier not to.

This one, I am not going to pick on too much. I prefer seeing parents
and siblings to friends hanging out during the holidays because it
seems more realistic. Some people don't see their families all that much
outside of these special occasions, and so it makes sense for family,
not friends, to be the holiday focus.

I just wish, however, there would be more lead-up to the family
gatherings. Can't they spend at least one episode talking about, or
preparing for, the celebration before the actual episode? Family
Christmases are a marathon, not a sprint. They deserve more than 20
minutes.

Friend Gatherings
When families are not
available, or travel is prohibitive, so all the main series characters
find a way to celebrate together, even though they are not related. I'm
sure this does happen sometimes in real life. And yet, it's far from the
norm, which you would not get if your total understanding of the
holiday experience stems from television.

Now there are exceptions to the rule. If the characters are working
in a hospital, for instance, they may not be able to get Christmas off.
Should they find the time to gather at work or late at night, that
actually works pretty well, and can be sweet. But it is easy to forget
the times this device works because of all the times it doesn't.

Normal Episodes That Just Happen to Take Place at Christmas
I am a fan of these, mostly because they keep the momentum of the show
going. A lot of serial shows might ditch their larger arcs in favor of a
one-off Christmas celebration, but those that don't do themselves a
favor. Life doesn't stop from late November through early January. Nor
should the stories of these characters.

Of course, we could go into what makes a brilliant Christmas special, as some shows have achieved (Community!),
but that could be a topic for a whole other column. Plenty of series
deliver good Christmas episodes, even among the others that fail.

Here's the dirty little secret though, that the television industry
totally gets: we don't care if Christmas episodes are bad. Make them
schmaltzy, ridiculous, and over the top. We're so occupied with our own
good will and holiday feelings, that we'll overlook a weak script, or
maybe even praise it because it piles on what we're already feeling.

This means that no matter what fans of good television everywhere
think, the trend won't stop anytime soon. Even few critics care to
complain, falling victim to the same good will as everyone else. I can
sit at my computer today and pick things apart to my heart's content,
but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to smile and watch more of this
same stuff later today, enjoying every minute of it. Thank goodness, in
the name of quality, that Christmas only comes once a year.

And also, thank goodness that there is a time of year where we can
embrace pure, unadulterated happiness, and forget to be so cynical.
That's why the Christmas episodes work, because they remind us of that
childhood joy, before we had the stress and wisdom of age. Sometimes,
ignorance is bliss, and this is never truer than at Christmas. Should we
complain about the simple-mindedness of such special, or rejoice that
they take us back to innocent experience of being a kid? Obviously, most
people think that latter, and who am I to argue?

So I wish you and yours plenty of cheer, and will join you in
continuing to watch these Christmas episodes. Why not? It's called
finding the holiday spirit. Otherwise, you're just a grinch, and no one
likes a grinch.

Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter!